There were a number of events this year that have a special significance.

The counter revolution and military coup is particularly significant, because it shows that in at least some muslim countries radicalization is not inevitable.

At the time of the Arab spring the question was, would a post-Mubarak Egypt turn into another Turkey of another Iran?

After it's election the Moslem Brotherhood was moving towards the Iranian model when the military stepped in, unprepared to allow the radicalization to continue. Now Egypt is neither Iran or Turkey. It is once again just Egypt.

The other significant event happened this month, when an American warship and a Chinese warship almost collided in the South China sea. This near miss is the harbinger of future collisions to come, as China continues to exert its growing economic and military strength, putting the lie to the false idea that there is an ongoing, peaceful, non-threatening Chinese assent going on.

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